Ten minutes. That was how long she had on the roof before she had to go back to her room.

Ochako took the stairs up two at a time in her haste to get up there. The stars and the view awaited her, she knew, and she wanted to appreciate them tonight. Before they went to war again.

The door was ajar when she reached it. She quietly pushed it open, looking left and right in case anyone was around that shouldn't be. Troy's security measures were such that nothing could get in that they didn't want to get in - but it was still worth being cautious.

Nothing to her right. The hero guarding the roof would be on the floor above. But to her left stood Deku. Deku, her friend, looking out at the sky above the base.

She hadn't even seen him leave the conference room.

"Deku-kun?" she called out gently. The door creaked closed behind her as she walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

"Uraraka-san?" Deku, well, he didn't quite spin around as he did turn slightly to look at her. "Why are you up here?"

"Fresh air." She stopped next to him and leaned on the railing. "Didn't wanna go back to my room after that meeting so I came up here."

"I didn't want to go to my room either." He was smiling as he turned back to look out at the night sky. "Aizawa-sensei told me about the roof and well…" He rubbed his head with his hand. "I guess I also needed the fresh air?"

Satisfied with the answer, Ochako turned her attention to the view in front of her.

The bright lights of Troy blotted out much of the sky above her. Only a few stars shone through. It reminded her of UA and the dorms there, where everything was lit up so brightly that Ochako was lucky to be able to see a star at all. Sometimes maybe even two.

There were parts of Kansai that were popular for stargazers. It had been Ochako's dream to go to them when she had enough money for it. Just her and her parents. No obligations, no work, no stress. Just them, looking up at the stars above and wondering what else was out there in the great expanse of space.

Now? She wished she could be doing that. But it would have to wait until the war was done. Her parents were safe, but tomorrow she'd be marching into battle, a key component of the plan for Deku to defeat Shigaraki. She'd have Tsuyu with her, but ultimately, it was all up to Deku. He stood the best chance of defeating Shigaraki and he knew it.

Deku had understood her when she confessed to wanting to understand her foe. But Deku was so brave. He had the weight of everything on his shoulders and still ran forward, even going out alone because he wanted to protect them all. It was stupid of him to put himself at such risk when they were all here with him. Like they are now.

But it didn't change how nervous she felt about the coming battle. She had Toga to take care of. Deku was facing Shigaraki and All For One, an enemy that was so much more dangerous. They were all against fearsome villains who would stop at nothing to destroy them. But he showed no fear, no nerves. He'd steeled himself and was ready for tomorrow.

Once again, she found herself admiring his inner strength.

"H-How are you feeling?"

The question that came from Deku surprised her. "I, um. I'm feeling great! Why do you ask?"

"You're doing that thing you do with your fingers."

Ochako hadn't even realised she was tapping out a beat on the railing. She pulled her hands off the railing and hid them behind her back. "Oh. I didn't know I was doing that."

Deku just smiled and nodded in understanding. "There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just-um. Well. I-I was wondering if you were alright, Uraraka-san?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me, Deku-kun!" she said a bit too chipperly. But something was off in the way he'd said that. Like he wanted to talk more about something. "What about you? Are you alright?"

Deku took a deep, shuddering breath in. She could hear him shaking nervously next to her. "I'm afraid." Ochako didn't say anything. She nodded to show she had heard him. "I-I know everyone can do it and I know we have a good plan. But all I can think about is what if everything goes wrong? What if people get hurt or worse?"

They had been badly shaken by Midnight-sensei's death. Yaomomo and Mina had taken it the worst since they had been with her on the mission against Gigantomachia. It wasn't like she hadn't been afraid of the same thing. The idea that any of them could die was something they didn't wanna think about. Ochako knew there was a risk. They all did, they all wanted to be heroes after all.

Deku was just voicing her fears. That was all.

"There's been so much death already. I don't want anyone else to die. That doesn't mean I don't have faith in you, Uraraka-san, you're a wonderful hero and a strong person-"

"I get it." Deku cut himself off and looked at her. "I feel like that too. I just… didn't wanna say anything."

"Oh. Uhm… sorry."

"Don't be." Despite how nervous she felt, Ochako still had it in her to smile. "We'll win. Then we'll be back at UA learning how to be heroes again." She held out a fist to him, which he returned with a fist bump. "We should head back inside."

It was, after all, close to their curfew. Ochako turned away from the railing, away from Deku, and began to head back inside-

"Uraraka-san." She stopped. Deku stopped next to her, fidgeting awkwardly, before stumbling forward and, well. Hugging her.

He was hugging her? He was hugging her!

Ochako turned into his arms and pulled him into a hug of her own. She needed this. She wanted to hug him and she wanted him to hug her back because they might not get another chance and she didn't want to distract him with her feelings, not now, not on the eve of the hopefully last battle. So she would hug him as long and as desperately as she could.

"Please, d-don't die," Deku whispered. "I don't want anyone else to die."

"I'm not gonna die. I promise." She still had the stars to see with her family. She still needed to tell him how she felt. "But you better come back tomorrow, Deku-kun. If you run off again or d-die, we'll drag you back to UA no matter where you end up."

"I'll come b-back. I promise."

He let go of her slowly. Reluctantly, she did the same and watched him walk back inside. With one last look at the stars above, she followed him inside the building.

When the battle was over, she'd bring him up here to see the stars and tell him how she felt.

And that was a promise.

Author's Note: This almost was a reader X fic. I went with Izuku in the end. I'm not sure why.

Four years ago I started writing fanfiction because I was furious with how a show ended. Now I'm here and after so much media recently has ended with bittersweet or just downright upsetting endings, I'm just hoping MHA bucks the trend and lets the kids live. I know fanfic exists for that but just once, I'd like canon to not be bittersweet and actually give us a happy-ish ending.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. Lemme know if I did anything wrong, I'll fix it when I can.